USDA school food rule offers opportunity

Fresh-cut produce items are ready for their close-up at the July 14-17 School Nutrition Association annual national conference at Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Mo.

Packaged fruit and vegetable options have been a rising influence at the show, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, director of media relations for the National Harbor, Md.-based association.

That trend is expected to be strengthened because of the “Smart Snacks in Schools,” which gives fruit and vegetables a hall pass to all U.S. schools as a healthy snack option. The U.S. Department of Agriculture appoved the rule June 27, she said.

All companies offering individual-sized fresh-cut fruits and vegetables have a chance to grow their sales to schools, Lorelei DiSogra, vice president for nutrition and health at the United Fresh Produce Association, Washington, D.C., said. Some of the potential winners are fresh-cut apple slices, baby carrots, fresh fruit cups, pineapple spears and bananas, she said.

“We always have a couple of vendors that are offering healthy vending options and actual machines as well,” she said.

Alex Dinovo, vice president of DNO Inc., Columbus, Ohio, said one challenge to putting fresh produce in school vending machines is that some of the more appealing fresh-cut produce items — such as pineapple spears — have a shorter shelf life. Fresh produce items also will cost more than processed items like chips.

Spencer Cox, president of Vending Services Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, said his company doesn’t have any school accounts. However, Cox said he feels the USDA approach of demanding all items in the vending machines to be healthy is sound. Otherwise, he said healthy items may spoil as kids pass over baby carrots to choose Pop Tarts or Snickers bars.

Lisa McNeece, vice president of foodservice and industrial sales at Grimmway Farms, Bakersfield, Calif., said she believes there is huge opportunity for produce suppliers of all kinds in schools. “If students are presented with the products and opportunities to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, they are definitely going to consume them,” she said. “If you teach them young, it will stay with them through their life,” she said.

Size of opportunity unknown

Though the school market shows every sign of growing, Tony Freytag, national marketing director for Cashmere, Wash.-based Crunch Pak, and chairman of the United Fresh fresh-cut board, said there is no definitive idea of how big the school market is right now for fresh produce suppliers.

Movement in general is up, but it is hard to say how much is attributable to schools, he said.

“If you are talking retail, you can go to (data provider Nielsen Perishables) and see what is happening, but when you talking about (school) foodservice there is no measurement,” he said.

“I have to believe there is a movement increase because of the schools,” he said.

Freytag said that Crunch Pak is getting a lot of calls from companies who service vending machines because those companies are looking for options to replace less healthful products that the vendors can no longer stock.

“Now they have this investment in the vending machine and some of their revenue generators are gone,” he said.

Crunch Pak plans to have representatives at the National Automated Merchandising Association annual conference so they can see what equipment can support fresh-cut apples.

The great thing about school vending machines is that they typically are serviced daily, which limits potential losses.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity in the coming years, and it is on our radar screen big time,” he said.

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About the Author:

Tom Karst

Tom Karst is national editor for The Packer and Farm Journal Media, covering issues of importance to the produce industry including immigration, farm policy and food safety.
He began his career with The Packer in 1984 as one of the founding editors of ProNet, a pioneering electronic news service for the produce industry. Tom has also served as markets editor for The Packer and editor of Global Produce magazine, among other positions.
Tom is also the main author of Fresh Talk, www.tinyurl.com/freshtalkblog, an industry blog that has been active since November 2006.
Previous to coming to The Packer, Tom worked from 1982 to 1984 at Harris Electronic News, a farm videotext service based in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Tom has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism from Kansas State University, Manhattan.
He can be reached at tkarst@farmjournal.com and 913-438-0769. Find Tom's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/tckarst.